The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency created by Congress in 1975 to administer and enforce the Federal Elections Campaign Act. The FEC is responsible for disclosing campaign finance information, enforcing limits and prohibitions on contributions and the oversight of the public funding of presidential elections.[1]

The commission is led by six members. The six members are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. They each serve six-year terms, with two seats up for appointment every two years. To prevent partisanship, no more than three members can be of the same political party and there is a four vote minimum for any proposal to be passed. Chairs of the commission serve one year terms and are limited to one term as chair during their tenure.[1]

History

President Theodore Roosevelt pushed Congress for campaign finance reform in 1905, which resulted in a series of legislative actions between 1907 and 1966 regarding primary and general election campaign funding and expenditures. The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) was passed in 1971 which made disclosure laws stricter on candidates, political action committees (PACs) and the political parties themselves. FECA was amended in 1974 to limit campaign contributions by individuals, political parties and PACs. The 1974 amendments also allowed for the establishment of the Federal Election Commission. The FEC opened its doors in 1975. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) passed in 2002, banning national parties from raising or spending soft money contributions, placed restrictions on issue ads and increased federal contribution limits.[2]

Two 2010 United States Supreme Court cases, Citizens United v. FEC and SpeechNow.org v. FEC represented the largest changes to campaign finance laws in decades. The ruling in the Citizens United case allowed corporations and unions to fund ads created independently from the campaign. The SpeechNow.org ruling expanded on the Citizens United ruling and allowed the establishment of super PACs. Previous limitations on contributions from corporations and unions to political organizations run independently from campaigns were struck down.[3]

An FEC informational video produced in 2009

Another Supreme Court case decided in April 2012, McCutcheon v. FEC, struck down previous limitations on how much a single donor can contribute to candidates and political parties in total during an election cycle. The limitation on how much a donor can give to each candidate and political party remain intact, but individual donors were no longer limited as to how many candidates and political parties they wished to contribute.[4]

Requirements for candidacy

According to the FEC, an individual becomes a federal candidate, and must begin to report their campaign finances, once he or she has either raised or spent $5,000 in pursuit of his or her campaign. Within fifteen days of this benchmark for status as a candidate, the candidate must register with the FEC and designate an official campaign committee, to be responsible for the funds and expenditures of the campaign. This committee must have an official treasurer, and cannot support any candidate but the one who registered the committee. Detailed financial reports are then made to the FEC every financial quarter after the individual is registered with the FEC. Reports are also made before primaries and before the general election.[5]

According to a report by the Center for Public Integrity, the FEC was hacked during the October 2013 government shutdown. All 339 FEC employees were furloughed when Chinese hackers infiltrated their computer system. This came after a security audit done in 2012. The results of the audit were:[6]

"Without adopting and implementing National Institute of Science and Technology minimum security controls, the FEC’s computer network, data and information is at an increased risk of loss, theft, manipulation, [and] interruption of operations."

2012 reports

Candidates for President, Congress, State, District and Local Party Committees and political action committees were required to file seven quarterly reports in 2012. Congressional campaigns were required to file if they raised or spent over $5,000 during the election cycle.[8] The required reports were as follows:[9]

Note: Filing deadlines were not extended when they fall on nonworking days.

Quarterly reports

2012 Quarterly Reports

Report

Period covered

Deadline

Year-End 2011

October 1 – December 31, 2011

January 31, 2012

April Quarterly

January 1 – March 31, 2012

April 15, 2012

July Quarterly

April 1 – June 30, 2012

July 15, 2012

October Quarterly

July 1 – September 30, 2012

October 15, 2012

Pre-General

October 1 – October 17, 2012

October 25, 2012

Post-General

October 18 – November 26, 2012

December 6, 2012

Year-End 2012

November 27 – December 31, 2012

January 31, 2013

Pre-election reports

All 2012 candidates for U.S. House and Senate were required a pre-election report if the candidate ran in the election. Political parties and PACs were only required to file pre-election reports if they were filing on a quarterly basis and they made previously undisclosed contributions or expenditures in connection with any primary and/or runoff.[9]

Deadlines for these reports varied by state. A full listing can be found on the FEC's website.

Independent expenditures

Depending on the date and amount of expenditure, some political committees and other persons were required to disclose independent expenditures within 24 or 48 hours.[9]

These reports varied by state. A full listing can be found on the FEC's website.

Contribution limitations

The following table shows contribution limits for the 2013-2014 election cycle.[2]